Moonlight, Muggles and Magic
by Devon Shea
Summary: Little bits of the life of Lavender Brown, post-Hogwarts. They tie-in very heavily with my story, Dudley's Tale, and are, essentially, her back-story. They may or may not be written chronologically. Everything except for my characters belongs to JK Rowling!
1. Chapter 1

2007

Lavender looked at the little stick with the plus sign and didn't know what to think. She had purchased three of them after the first one had told her the same thing and used all three just hoping the results would change. The other three were lined up along the bathroom counter glaring at her with their betraying answer. She threw the little stick down and swiped the others onto the floor angrily.

"How can I do this?" she asked her reflection. "What if it's like me?"

Her reflection had no answer. The ravaged, sunken eyes just stared back at her, tears brimming, ready to fall. Her hair, once a lustrous blonde now hung limply on her shoulders. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were scarred and rough from years of working in the factory. Her face had lines that made her look older than her twenty-nine years. The last eleven years hadn't been kind to her. Or maybe it was just that she hadn't been kind to herself.

She jumped as her man knocked on the door. "Darlin'? You've been in there for a while. You alright?"

Was she alright? Would she ever be? How could she ever be? The scars on her shoulder and back pulled at her every day and told her she'd never be alright. And now she had a tiny little life to worry about?

"Darlin'?"

She looked at the door and sighed. She reached out and unlocked it, letting Tommy in. When he entered the tiny bathroom hesitantly, he found her slumped over the sink, her hair shielding her face. He took a step in and trod on something. Looking down he saw four pregnancy tests. He paused, then reached down to pick one up. When he saw what it showed he couldn't help but smile even as his heart clenched at the shock.

He looked up at the woman he loved. "But this is amazin'." He reached for her shoulder, not thinking as he put his hand on the one place he knew not to touch. The second his hand touched her scars she turned.

"How is this amazing? How can I be a mother? How can I inflict _this_ on a child?" She slapped the scars she hated.

He smiled gently, the smile that was the reason she had first started to love him. "You'll be a wonderful mum." He reached out to smooth her hair and ran the back of his fingers over her cheek. "You control it. You always do."

"But a child?" She gripped his hand hard, "What if the monster comes out in him?"

"It won't, I'm sure."

"But if it _does_?"

He lifted her hand up to his lips. "_If_ it does, we'll handle it." He kissed her fingers. "We'll just make sure we stock up on red meat like we do for you." He smiled, "Hope the little one will like steak and potatoes like his da does."

Her lips quivered. "What if he's a she?"

"Na, it'll be a boy. My family only has boys." He grinned. "There hasna been a girl born in my family in three generations." He pulled her hand and tugged her into his arms, spinning her in a dizzy waltz in their tiny bathroom. "We're havin' a baby!"

She giggled at his silliness, caught up in his excitement. No, they may not have much money and maybe he was a little too fond of the drink now and then and she had an unfortunate tendency to get snappish and grumpy on the Full Moon due to the pain, but they would handle it.

As they danced through the tiny flat to music they heard only in their heads she caught a glimpse of the old school trunk they used for a table. It hadn't been opened in the five years they had been together. She sent a quick prayer up to whatever deity might be listening, "Please let my child be safe and sound and don't let him be a wizard or a werewolf."


	2. Chapter 2

**April 12, 2009**

She held the little boy in her arms. He was perfect. His brown eyes were closed just then but when they were open they darted around the room looking at everything, taking in all he saw with a sort of glee. Little Seamus was at the moment peaceful. It was a change from last night when he had been crying piteously at the pain from the Full Moon. It was the second one of his second year. Lavender sighed and laid her head gently on the top of his. She hadn't even been able to be the one holding him during his hellish last two days. She had been dealing with her own hellish time of pain and terrors.

Tommy came into the room, swaying slightly from overindulgence. "Sleepin' now, is he?"

She nodded slightly, not wanting to wake Seamus up.

"And you're over your time, are ya? Good," he said before letting her respond to the last question, "I'm goin' out with the boys."

She lifted her head and said, "You're already almost drunk."

"Am I? Good. Need to be to get it out of my head." With that he turned quickly, grabbing the doorway when the room spun before his eyes, and left the flat they rented.

She sighed, knowing how hard it was for him to see his son so miserable and not be able to do anything about it. It was easier for him to push the misery away with a trip to the pub. She stood up with her son in her arms and laid him in his crib. She brushed the dark curls from his forehead and felt her lips curl up in a small smile.

She remembered how devastated she had been finding out she had been pregnant. She had seriously thought about ending the pregnancy, even with Tommy being so happy about a child. She had kept considering it seriously up until she felt Seamus for the first time in her fourth month. It was just a little flutter. She wasn't even sure at first that she had felt anything real. It had taken another moment but he had moved again and she knew she couldn't think any more of an abortion.

She lost track of how long she just stared down at her sleeping son. She did that more than she cared to remember. All she could think about was how his little body was wracked with the pain of a full moon every month. She herself had never changed. The attack had come at the wrong time of the month for that, but the wolf wanted to come. It wanted to be able to burst out of her body and rampage through town, leaving devastation in its wake.

She snorted a humorless little laugh at her thoughts. It didn't even have to come out to devastate her over and over again. All it had to do was leave her insensate each month and leave her man to deal with the pain a tiny child went through fighting his own wolf. The wolf did more damage than she ever could have imagined just by making her fight it so hard she couldn't be there for her son or her lover. She wished she was like she was before the pregnancy, able to fight the wolf and tolerate the pain better. Hell, she wished she was like she was before the attack, then it wouldn't even be an issue.

She walked away from the crib and went to the window. She hoped to see Tommy enter the pub down the street, but he must have been moving faster than her thoughts had allowed her to. As she looked out on the now-waning moon she reached out to it, leaving her palm-prints on the glass window of the small flat. She stared at the yellowish orb just staring back at her. She remembered a line from a poem she had read once in her "poetry" phase at school. It summed up her obsession with the moon perfectly: "The child's wonder at the old moon comes back nightly.*"

The moon had no interest in her, but she was obsessed with its turns from new to waxing to full to waning and back again. Maybe if things had gone differently, the only significance that ball of rock and dust orbiting the Earth would have held for her was to be illumination on the romantic walks along the beach she still dreamed of having every now and then. As it was the moon had turned into an example of how everything could just go wrong.

She shook her head and turned away from the window. "Sleep," she said to herself. "I just need some more rest, that's all." She pulled her favorite nightgown out of her dresser and slipped out of her jeans and tee so she could put it on. She hadn't bothered with a bra earlier in the day so that was one less layer to shed.

Before she lay down she checked on Seamus one more time and smoothed his hair over his forehead. His fever was gone and the color in his cheeks was healthy again. His wolf had gone back to sleep, leaving him peaceful and calm. If only her thoughts could be so as well.

She looked at the table made from her school trunk. She wasn't even sure why she still kept it. The memories it held weren't happy. Well, some of them were. Those from before the attack. From before that last stand. Did she keep it out of penance? But then, she hadn't done anything wrong, so what was she punishing herself for? Did she keep it because she wanted to hold onto just that last little bit of what she had been? But that person was gone forever in a flash of claws and teeth. Was it just that she couldn't bear to give up that last part of her old self: the care-free, silly self who had thought she could take on the world and win? That must be it. Somewhere inside her was her old school self, so sure that she could beat the men and women who had immersed themselves in pure evil.

She sighed and sat on the faded couch, staring at their "table". _I shouldn't_, she thought. _The past is dead and buried._

Her mind warred with itself. There was her old self sitting on one shoulder telling her, _It's not over. You still fight the war every month and now, so does your son._ Her old self flipped her long hair and crossed her arms over her chest. Her new self, the one that worked so hard in a muggle job to pay the bills and provide for her son and husband was sitting on the other shoulder. _This is your past. This is done. It can only cause trouble._

Her old self shook her head at the other two. _And what if there's something in there, in one of the old books, that would help ease his pain? Ease your pain?_ Her new self looked mulishly at her old self, but had no response. She took a deep breath. Her son had been going through this for eight months now. How could she, as his mother allow it to go on any longer?

She knelt on the floor and pulled the items off the trunk and then the small tablecloth that covered it. "Maybe there _is_ something in here that can stop the pain for him." She hesitated before reaching for the lock, realizing she wasn't sure where the key was now, it had been that long since she'd opened it. She looked at the keychain on the table by the door. "Did I put it there?"

When she got the keychain she realized it was Tommy's, not hers. She bit her lip. She couldn't leave Seamus to go down to the pub for her keys. She couldn't wake him and take him with her just to exchange keys. He would be suspicious. She searched around the flat, just in case she had put the key somewhere else instead.

After an hour of looking, she acknowledged that the key must either be on her keychain down at the pub or she had lost it at some point. She sat on the couch again, glaring at the useless trunk. She couldn't even open it with her wand since the damned thing was in the trunk along with everything else. Frustrated, she groaned and waved her hand at the trunk, saying _Dissendium_ as she dropped her head back on the couch. The click barely registered as she thought, _Now I have to wait until he comes home and he's not going to be happy with me looking in this damned thing._

She gave the trunk a few half-hearted kicks. As she did, the rattling finally registered. She pulled up her head to look at the lock. It was open. "What the hell?" She hadn't been very good at non-verbal magic in school and now she had done something wandless? How was that possible?

_Who cares?_, said her old self. _Just open the damned trunk and get your wand, you idiot._

She reached out for the lid and had to take a deep breath as she put her hand on it. Had to brace herself as she lifted it. Once the trunk was open, she just sat there for a moment, memories rushing back. She reached for her wand, nearly seven years after having put it away. It fairly leaped into her hand. She could almost feel its relief when she closed her fingers around it. _Old friend_, she thought.

_You left me in there. In the cold and dark for seven years._

_I know. I'm sorry. I thought it was best._

_Well, you were wrong. I missed you._

_I missed you, too._

She hugged the wand to her breast. She knew it couldn't be talking to her. She knew it was all in her head, but it felt right, so right, to have it in her hand again, the natural extension of her arm. She kept hold of the wand even as she reached into the trunk to run her fingers over the books in there. Next to the books was a box. She pulled the box out and placed it on top of the books before she opened it. It had been a gift from her favorite teacher. Professor Trelawny had visited her in St. Mungo's and had brought this to her the day before Lavender had been discharged.

It was bespelled to be slightly bigger on the inside than the outside. When she opened it, she lovingly caressed the crystal ball that was nestled into its protective slot in the middle. The special cups for tasseomancy sat to its left and the water bowl for scrying had an insert that held the cards she had once used so frequently. She smiled, thinking of her times in class. Her smile died when she remembered what had happened to some of those classmates. She shook her head and closed the lid on the box. "Not helpful," she muttered. "The books will be much more helpful."

She put the box back in its place in the trunk and pulled out the pile of books, looking at the spine of each as she did so. She was looking for three in particular: Goshawk's Standard Book of Spells and Jigger's and Borage's potions texts. She had found two of the three when she came across a thin book with no name on the spine. She knew what it was and as tempting as it was to look at the pictures in the photo album, she knew she didn't have much more time before her lover came home. If he found her with the trunk open… She didn't want to think of how Tommy would react after having a good drunk going on. She quickly found the other book and put them aside. She returned all the other books to the trunk and the divination box, leaving the photo album out at the last minute.

She closed the trunk, put everything back the way it had been and sat back on the couch, the four books next to her and the wand still clutched in her hand. "Now what?" she asked herself. "Where can I hide these so he won't find them while I look through them?"

She picked up the books and walked over to Seamus' crib. He was still sleeping soundly, even after two hours of his mother's rummaging around. She got a small grin on her face, reminiscent of her old self. She put down the two potions books and took a quick look in the spellbook to refresh her memory of the spell she was about to use. She smiled after reading it through a few times, closed the book and waved her wand in a downward spiral, whispering _Epoximinim_ to practice. When she was sure she remembered it well enough, she picked up each book and held it on the underside of the crib and stuck the books there. It wasn't a permanent sticking charm, but it would hold them there safely when she didn't need them.

"Now the wand." She looked around the flat but didn't really want to let go of it. It felt good in her hand. It had felt amazing to use a spell again. It hadn't been easy. She was glad she had only used a simple charm. Her magic had jumped around in her as she had channeled it through the wand. It must have been so eager to be used, so sick of being pent up that it had enabled her to use it without her wand to open the trunk. She was probably lucky it had just opened the trunk. It could very well have blown it to itty-bitty pieces.

She moved around the small flat, looking for a place he wouldn't find it when he hunted for money for alcohol. She had just about given up when she looked up. The very top of the cabinets looked promising. She pulled a chair over and smiled when she saw the tiny space available. He would never look here. She had never used it to hide money or anything else. Perfect. Now she could try to find a way to make Seamus' battle easier. And maybe her own. Maybe if she could ease Seamus' pain, her husband would stop needing the drink to get through it. Maybe they'd be waltzing around the flat again.

*Child Moon, Carl Sandburg

_**AN:**__ Fair warning, Lavender's not having the cushiest life. I may not update this one with any regularity. If a bit of her back story comes to me, then I'll write it down and update it. I'll stick with my habit of dating the beginning of the story so there isn't any confusion if things get written out of order._


	3. Chapter 3

**March 2010**

Lavender tugged the hood up higher on her very old cloak. It hung on her frame now. She was taking a big chance, but she had no choice. She looked up at the sign in front of her. She hadn't come here in almost ten years. She reached the handle and opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron. The sound of people laughing and joking reached her ears like a slap. She shook her head and tried to hurry through to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Get you anything, dear?" she heard a young, female voice ask. Lavender quickly shook her head no and pushed by the blonde woman, the back of her mind wondering why the pregnant witch seemed familiar.

The door to Diagon Alley was her goal. She had to get her task done quickly so she could catch the train back home. Tommy would be wondering where she was if she took too long. The lie that she was going into London to try to find a better job was the best she could come up with and while he may be drunk a lot, he certainly wasn't stupid. She had made sure she picked up applications at different places along the way so she could fill them out at home to allay his suspicions.

She took out her wand and hesitated before tapping the brick to open the wall. She had nearly forgotten which brick to tap, it had been so long. When the wall opened up in front of her, she couldn't help but smile at the sight before her. Diagon Alley, full of color and light and the center of wonder for her when she had been a child. Before she had gone to Hogwarts, trips to Diagon Alley had been the highlight of her life. She had loved to stare in the windows of the shops.

She walked down the Alley, carefully looking in the windows again, making sure her hood covered her face enough that if she saw anyone she knew she'd be hidden from them. Hannah Abbott! Her mind suddenly filled in with the name of the innkeeper. That was Hannah Abbott. Lavender remembered Hannah saying something once about Tom being her distant cousin. _Looks like she finally got the place_, Lavender thought. She smiled as she contemplated who the father of her child was, _Either Ernie or Neville. Probably Neville. He was mad for her._

Lavender stopped in front of Madame Malkin's and took a quick look at the newest robes. She had gotten to the point where she actually liked muggle clothing better than wizarding robes, but she had always loved to dress up when she was younger.

Her goal was only a few more feet away, but she couldn't help but be distracted by the display at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. She chuckled when she remembered the look on Umbridge's face when Fred and George left Hogwarts. It had been amazing to watch. She was glad George had been able to come back from Fred's death. She didn't think she would have been able to lose a twin and stay sane.

The way to Knockturn Alley was right in front of her. She took a deep breath and started down it. She had only come here once before, on a dare by Parvati and Padma the one time they had been shopping for school supplies. She hadn't made it very far in.

She wasn't looking for a store in particular. She was looking for a person. She had seen him only once, but she knew he hung around here. She only hoped he'd actually survived the War. If not, then she'd have to fall back on her plan to brew the potion herself. She kept her eyes on the people she passed, hoping to see Mundungus Fletcher among them. If she had to deal with someone from the magical community, she'd rather deal with someone she knew could be vaguely trusted. He had been in the Order of the Phoenix, after all.

She had practically reached the end of the Alley before she saw someone who might be him. She followed a short, bandy-legged man into the pub he was entering. He sat at the bar and she sat next to him. He looked over at her suspiciously. The smell coming from him nearly knocked her over. It also made her pretty sure she had found the right man. She remembered some of Fred and George's descriptions of him. The body odor definitely fit what she remembered.

She didn't have any time to waste, so she just turned to him and greeted him with a whisper. "Mr. Fletcher, I have business with you." The man looked panicky for a moment before she quickly and quietly added. "Please don't Disapparate. It's not illegal in the least. I swear. I just have to be discreet."

Still suspicious and about to Disapparate anyway, Mundungus Fletcher studied the cloaked woman in front of him. He was a pretty good judge of who should be in this part of town and he was absolutely certain this woman was not one of those people.

"Maybe we should get a booth and ya can stand me a drink, then?" he asked her, willing to play along just as long as he didn't get into trouble with the Ministry.

She nodded, her face still obscured by the hood of her cloak. She got up, leaving a few sickles on the bar counter to pay for whatever he ordered and led the way to the empty corner booth. Once they sat down, she tugged her hood further over her face since she knew he'd be trying to see under it. She didn't want him to know who she was unless she had to tell him.

"Now, then, my lady, what can I do for ya?"

Lavender took a deep breath. "I need Wolfsbane potion."

Fletcher leaned back. "Ya have ta be registered wit' the Ministry iffen you're a werewolf and they give it ta ya at St. Mungo's. They've a special ward for it."

"Yes, I know that. But I'm not a werewolf. Neither is the person I need it for." Lavender's shoulders slumped under the cloak. "I'll be completely honest with you, Mr. Fletcher. We're latents. We need it to curb the pain, not make a harmless transformation."

Fletcher did some quick calculations in his head. "We, huh? Ya and someone else. Must be yer kid."

Lavender reared back at the surprising insight from someone she didn't expect it from. She nodded quickly. "He's only two and the pain tears him apart. It tears me apart listening to him cry."

"So why not jest make it yerself?"

Lavender shook her head. "My man is a muggle. I can't brew a potion in front of him."

"Ya live in the muggle world, doncha?"

Lavender nodded. Fletcher chewed his lip as he thought. "Why dja look fer me?"

"Because you were in the Order, and I thought I'd be able to trust you more than others I'd find here," Lavender stated almost under her breath. She didn't want to get him in trouble with anyone who might not know he had been in the Order.

Fletcher heard what she said and reared back a bit. "How'd joo know that?"

She sighed and pulled back her hood just enough to give him a decent look at her face and neck, but not others. "Because I was in the DA and we had your picture in the training room." She pulled her hood back over her face.

Fletcher nodded slowly. He knew the face, well, he knew what she had looked like twelve years ago. He'd seen it in the picture that had been in the Daily Prophet of the kids in Dumbledore's Army after the last Battle had been fought and Voldemort killed. It had been unblemished and almost impossibly young, then. The years hadn't been so kind to Lavender Brown.

"Miss Br-" Fletcher started to say her name but was interrupted.

"If you please, Mr. Fletcher, I go by Murray now. And I really would prefer not to have my identity released, if you know what I mean. I live a quiet life as a muggle. I'd prefer it to stay that way. The _only_ reason I came here today is to secure Wolfsbane so my son can grow up without pain."

Fletcher nodded. "Won't be cheap. Gonna have ta pull some strings."

"I understand that. Please understand that while I can pay you in wizarding money for the first few times, after that I hope you'd accept muggle money." Lavender put her palms up. "I won't have a way to change the money without going to Gringotts's, which I cannot do without risking my identity getting out. I'd also like never to have to come back here, so if we could meet in the muggle world, that would be preferable."

"Probably better fer t'whole understandin', actually." Fletcher cocked his head. "Anywhere in particular ya'd like ta meet?"

Lavender reached into her robe and pulled out a slip of paper she'd stashed in a pocket earlier. "Here's the address of a pub in Guildford, Surrey. If we could meet there, I'd prefer it. Do you know how to use a muggle telephone?" Fletcher nodded. "Good. Call me at the phone number listed there on the New Moon and we can make arrangements to meet."

"How 'bout a good faith token?"

"Mr. Fletcher, my not shouting to the rafters about where I know you from was just that. Besides, I already bought you a drink. You know very well how much I'm going to want the potion. I'd say I'm good on the good faith part. I hope you will be to." Lavender stood up. "I'll just take my leave now. Thank you for your time. I hope you can acquire what I need." She left the wizarding world and Mundungus Fletcher in possession of a lot more than the few sickles she'd spent on his drink. She left him with all of the information anyone needed to find her if they so desired and he proved to be unreliable. She just hoped she had done the right thing.


	4. Chapter 4

**July 2011**

"It's just not possible. T'Ministry's cracking down on it." Fletcher had been getting Lavender the Wolfsbane potion for over a year now but he was starting to have a hard time finding it.

"Surely there must be someone who will brew it for you," she asked across the table at the pub they had been meeting in.

Fletcher shook his head mournfully. "Anyone good enough ta brew it has been served notice by t'Ministry ta cease and desist unless they're doin' it fer Ministry-approved St. Mungo's patients."

"Dammit!" Lavender cursed the paper-jockey who'd come up with this new regulation. "Why the hell are they doing that?"

"Sumthin' about wanting to make sure the potency is accurate. A coupla months ago some poor bastard took some potion he got from a back alley and he went on a rampage up in Cornwall. Took out an Auror before they could put him down."

"Took out an Auror? What was his name?" Lavender may not be in the world anymore, but she still had too many old friends in the Auror Department not to be concerned.

Fletcher shook his head, knowing her concern was for her old friends. "T'was a young one. She was jest a year outta trainin'. Not one a'yours, Lav."

She sighed, "I don't know if that's worse or better."

Fletcher smiled at her. She had, oddly enough, become almost friends with this smelly, slightly creepy man. He didn't judge her. "I got an idea, though."

Lavender smiled back a little. "Let's hear it, then."

"How's 'bout you brew it. I kin get the ingredients. None of them're proscribed since they're all used in other potions."

"Mundungus, I told you, I have nowhere to brew it. Even if I did, it's incredibly complex."

Fletcher shook his head. "I got a solution fer that. I found somethin' at Borgin & Burke's that might help. It's a cauldron that can be invisible ta muggles. I, ahem, took the liberty of purchasin' it, in case ya wanted it." He grinned at the look she gave him. "As fer t'complex part, well, ya have enough to get through the next two months, right?" Lavender nodded cautiously. "Then ya have time ta figger it out."

Lavender sighed. "Sounds like this is my only option. Maybe I can do a look-away spell to make Tommy look away from that part of the flat I use, too. Just in case. Will the cauldron hide the smell, too?"

Fletcher nodded. "Yup. Every bit of t'brewin' is hidden. Tried it out meself when I got home, just in case. Had a, uh, friend, come over ta visit while I brewed a lil sumthin'."

Lavender snorted, "Female friend, no doubt."

Fletcher grinned, a truly frightening view. Lavender just shook her head. She'd gotten to know this little man well enough over the last year to know he was relatively harmless. "Alright, Mundungus. I'll take the cauldron as long as you promise me you can get me the ingredients."

"I promise, Lav. T'mite's a lil cutie." Fletcher had seen him earlier when he'd been lurking to get Lavender's attention to arrange a meet. He'd said something about not being able to get to a phone. She had decided not to press for the real reason.

She smiled with pride. "He is, isn't he?"

Fletcher finished off his drink and stood. "I'll try ta get at least one more set of doses fer ya two, but I can't promise. I can get all t'ingredients, though. Might even be cheaper fer ya, actually."

Lavender chuckled. "If you hadn't said that, you could have gotten a better profit."

Fletcher smiled before he left the pub. "Maybe, but sometimes it's better ta just give someone a break when they need it. I'll get the cauldron to ya tomorra. Look fer it on yer doorstep. Yer man won' be able ta see it."

"How much was it?" Lavender called out, but Fletcher was gone. She smiled as she finished her soda water. She'd put a good bit extra in the next few payments for the ingredients. She sighed a bit. _Looks like it's time to break out the potions books again and review_, she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**September 2012**

It was Seamus' first day of school. She tugged on the little tee-shirt he wore. It was scarlet. He wore a lot of that and gold. It was a little thing, but she couldn't resist it. It had only been a few years and she used as little magic as possible, but she couldn't help dressing her son up in her old colors. She had scrounged and saved as much money as she could to buy the new clothes for her son. She wanted him to go to school looking as good as he could.

"Now, you be good, dear. Listen to the teacher and learn what she wants to teach you. You'll make lots of friends, Seamus." She stood up after giving him one more hug.

"Mu-um," he looked around, embarrassed. He was scared to go to school but he definitely didn't want the other boys in kindergarten to think he was a wuss or actually needed his mum.

She smiled at Seamus. "I know, I know. You're such a big boy." She ran her hand lovingly over his black hair. He looked so much like his father. It was always a bit heart-wrenching to look at him. "Go in there and have fun."

Seamus grinned, his father's smile. "Fun, mum? Should I have fun or should I be good?"

She shook her head at her son. "I have faith that you can do both, young man." She turned him around and swatted him on the rear end to get him moving. "And I'll hear it from the teacher otherwise."

He grinned over his shoulder at his mum as he went into the classroom. She hugged herself around the middle, wishing she could just grab him back and never let him go. As she stood there for another moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see a woman about her height and age smiling at her.

"He'll be fine."

Lavender tried to smile at the woman consoling her. "I hope so."

Annie Dursley took her hand off the blonde woman's shoulder. "I just sent my second one in to do battle with the dreaded kindergarten. It actually gets easier with each one."

"I only have one child."

"I still have one at home." Annie shook her head. "I have a few more years to go for him." Lavender sighed. "Would you like to go for some coffee? Tea? I'm Annie, by the way. Annie Dursley."

Lavender cocked her head. "Lavender Murray. My head boss is named Dursley."

"Oh, you work at Grunings?"

Lavender nodded. "I work in assembly." She looked at her watch. "In fact, I should be going for the bus now. I was given the morning off so I could bring Seamus to school."

"I drive by there on my way home. Would you like me to drop you off? I actually have a whole day to myself. My mother-in-law stole my son for the day." Annie smiled.

Lavender thought quickly. If she took the bus, there'd be at least one change and it would take her more than an hour to get there. If she got a ride, it would take her less than twenty minutes to get to work. "I'd appreciate it, Annie. Thank you."

"Sure, no problem, Lavender. My car's out here." Annie led Lavender to the modest sedan she drove. "So, how long have you worked at Grunings?"

"About seven years now, I guess." Lavender buckled her seatbelt as she answered. "What do you do?"

Annie smiled as she drove out of the parking lot. "I illustrate children's books. It's my dream job, actually. Once I got pregnant with my second daughter, Melissa, who is the one I just dropped off, by the way, my husband and I decided we'd be able to get by if I stayed home. He has a good job with the school district. I had been getting independent commissions to illustrate and we just decided to go with it and hope for the best."

Lavender nodded. "Nice." She smiled. "The job at Grunings isn't really that exciting or anything, but it helps pay the bills."

Annie laughed. "Oh, I know. That's where I met Dudley. He's Vernon Dursley's son. I worked in reception."

Lavender snorted, "I can just imagine the calls you got." Lavender deepened her voice, "I need a hundred variable speed hammer drills in bright fuchsia to appeal to the little ladies."

"Why, yes, sir, let me get you with the director of merchandising. Please hold and listen to this lovely tune sung by the latest pop sensation that will get then get stuck in your head for days unending."

The two women laughed at their silliness. Lavender marveled a bit at the easy conversation she was having with a woman she had just met. Annie reminded her of Parvati, easy to talk to. Lavender hadn't had a friend in a long while. She had really only had Tommy for the last few years, and he had been distant for so long. It would be nice to have a friend again. Maybe, just maybe, Annie would prove to be that friend.

_**AN:**__ I don't know if all British schools make their kids wear unifors from infancy, so I decided to go with the idea that the little kids, at least, could still wear whatever they liked. Don't throw anything at me if I'm wrong, please. It pleases me to have Lavender put Seamus in Gryffindor colors._


	6. Chapter 6

**February 2013**

Lavender hurried down the school corridor to the principal's office. She had gotten a call at work that she needed to come pick Seamus up. The receptionist wouldn't or couldn't give her more information than that. Since Tommy was nowhere to be found she had taken the rest of the day off and gotten a cab to get here as quickly as possible. Before she reached the door, she stopped for a moment to compose herself. If he was hurt it wouldn't do him any good to see his mum frantic.

She knocked on the door and opened it when she heard the principal call out, "Enter."

"Ah, Mrs. Murray. Good of you to come so fast." The principal, Mr. Figg, was a thin man, with the look of an ascetic but the personality of the Fat Friar. His wide smile looked almost wrong on his face as he stood up and walked around his desk to greet her.

Lavender looked around the office, expecting to see her son, but didn't, "Mr. Figg, where's Seamus? Is he alright?"

Mr. Figg's smile dimmed a bit. "Seamus is alright, Mrs. Murray, but we need to discuss his recklessness."

"Recklessness? Seamus? Are you joking?" Lavender was stunned. "Seamus is a good buy."

Mr. Figg led Lavender to one of the vistor's chairs and, rather than become formal, sat in the other one himself, turning it to face her. "Mrs. Murray, Seamus' teacher had to get myself and another member of the staff today to get Seamus out of a tree at recess."

Lavender let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "He climbed a tree? That's what this is about? Children climb trees, Mr. Figg. I daresay you did when you were a child." Lavender was starting to lose the nervous fear that her son was hurt and was now getting angry at being called away from work for something so trivial as tree-climbing.

Mr. Figg nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Murray, I climbed trees when I was a child. I think we all did. However," Mr. Figg's smile had all but disappeared, "I never managed to climb thirty feet in the air and then proceed to say I hadn't done so."

"What?" Lavender's anger died as quickly as it had started. Climb thirty feet at his age? No. That wasn't possible, unless… Lavender had to face the fact that she had actually hoped her son would be a squib. And it was entirely possible that her hopes had just been dashed.

"Mrs. Murray?" Mr. Figg had said something while she had zoned out and she had missed it.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Figg. I don't know what to say." Lavender took a deep breath. "I'll talk to him when we get home and make sure he doesn't do anything like that again."

Mr. Figg sat there for a moment while Lavender held her breath. She realized who he had reminded her of: Professor McGonagall, with an outside appearing like hardened steel hiding the heart of a marshmallow. "Very well, Mrs. Murray. I expect there will be no more incidents of this nature. Seamus must be made to realize that he must tell the truth even if he thinks he'll get in trouble for it."

Lavender bit her tongue and only replied, "Seamus doesn't lie, Mr. Figg. It's entirely possible he was so scared by what had happened he just didn't remember doing it. However, I will make sure he realizes the consequences of being foolish." She stood up, "Now, Mr. Figg, I'd like to take him home."

"Of course, Mrs. Murray." Mr. Figg stood and walked her to the door. "He is in the nurse's office. I can accompany you if you'd like."

Lavender shook her head. "Just give me the direction and I'll be fine." She wanted to get away from him before her temper grew again at the casual accusation of her son lying, especially when she knew there was no way to explain how she knew Seamus wasn't lying. She knew Mr. Figg and the others were just interpreting things in the way they understood them.

"Down the hall, second left, third door on the right."

Lavender repeated the directions and thanked Mr. Figg before taking her leave. The walk was short and took her only a few minutes as she was moving along at a pretty good clip, worry and anger mixing to make her temper more than a little bit frayed. She got to the door and didn't bother knocking, just opened it and walked in. She saw Seamus right away, in one of the chairs, reading a book. He and the nurse both looked up at the same time.

Seamus jumped out of his seat and ran over to Lavender, leaping two steps away, trusting his mum to catch him mid-air. She held him close as her "I'm such a big boy" son started to cry, the stress of the day just getting to him when he saw the one person he knew could make it all go away.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetie." Lavender sat in the empty chair he had just been sitting in, moving the book he'd dropped to the next one. She rubbed his back as he cried his little heart out. The nurse smiled gently, nodded at Lavender and went into the room she used to treat the minor scrapes and bruises she usually dealt with during the day, giving the two some privacy.

After a few minutes letting him cry, she tilted his head back and smiled into his brown eyes, red-rimmed with tears. "You're going to make yourself sick if you cry too much, you know."

Seamus nodded miserably as he tried to stop crying. "That's better, my love. You were scared today, weren't you?"

He nodded again. "I didn't do it, Mum. Really, I didn't." He looked her right in the eyes as he said it, "But I was so high and I couldn't get down!"

"I know, sweetie. We're going to talk about it, but not here, okay?" Lavender stood Seamus on the floor. "Do you have your coat and hat?" He nodded and pointed to the coat tree in the corner of the office. "Gloves and lunch box, too?" Seamus nodded again. "Alright, put them on while I tell your nurse we're going. What's her name again?"

"Miss Ashley," he responded as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. Lavender sighed but didn't say anything to him about it. She walked over to the door and knocked on it before she opened it.

"Miss Ashley?"

"Yes, Mrs. Murray?" The nurse was young, with straight black hair and clear blue eyes. She seemed to project an aura of care.

"I'm taking Seamus home now. Was he injured in any way during his climb?"

Miss Ashley stopped the organizing she had been doing and shook her head. "Not that I could tell. He was more scared than anything else, I think. His hands weren't even scraped up. It was like he'd just jumped that high and couldn't get back down." She laughed to herself and shook her head again. "The biggest deal was more that he kept insisting he hadn't climbed it in the first place."

Lavender sighed, thinking to herself, _This is going to take some work to make sure he's not labeled a liar_. "Is it possible," she asked the nurse, "that after he did climb it and got so high and scared, that he just forgot everything but the fear, even the ascent?"

"Well, I guess it is possible. Fear can do funny things to one's memory." Miss Ashley's eyebrows met in the middle. "You know, you're probably right. It's hard for a five year old to lie that convincingly. He must just not remember it."

Lavender kept her temper in check and kept the bland smile on her face so she wouldn't strangle the young woman in front of her for so callously accusing her son of lying. "Yes, that must be it."

The nurse's face cleared up as she latched onto the possibility that made her feel better about the whole situation. "Well, he should be fine with some rest just to get over his scare completely. "I'd like to see him Monday morning before classes start, though, just to talk to him."

Lavender nodded. "Of course. Oh, I didn't ask Mr. Figg, will Seamus need to see him as well?"

"Not that I know of," Miss Ashley replied.

"Alright. Then we'll just be going now." Lavender turned and went over to Seamus to help him zip up his jacket.

Miss Ashley left the busywork she had been doing and went out to see them off. She rummaged through the top drawer of her desk pulled out a sheet of stickers. "Here you go, Seamus. Pick one." Seamus took the sheet of stickers and looked at it carefully as Miss Ashley told Lavender, "I try to give all the kids who come through here a sticker for being so brave when they're hurt." She chuckled. "_I_ used to give out lollipops, but there are so many regulations now that I can't do that."

Lavender smiled at the woman, a real smile, "Well, all those peanut allergies and such take their toll on the fun stuff we could do, I suppose."

Seamus picked a bright, smiling sun and let Miss Ashley put it carefully on his coat, right over his heart. "Perfect," she said. "Good choice." She ruffled his hair as she stood back up from her kneeling position. "Be careful and get some good rest over the weekend, young man. And no more tree-climbing until you're a little older, alright?"

"But-" Seamus started to deny he had climbed the tree again but stopped when he saw is mother's quick head-shake. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you for the sticker."

"You're welcome, Seamus."

Lavender took her son's hand and nodded good-bye to Miss Ashley as they walked out the door and out of the school. She weighed her options as they left. If they caught the bus home, it would take about an hour with the transfer, but there was the chance Tommy would be home by then from work or wherever he had been. If they called a taxi she had no idea how long it would take to pick them up in the first place. Walking, it would only take about forty minutes and they could talk along the way. _I'll just carry him when he gets too tired to walk himself_, she decided.

She kept Seamus's hand as they turned onto the street from the school. "We're going to talk about this somewhere we can have some peace and quiet, alright, sweetie?"

"Yes, mum, but I really didn't do it!" Seamus' face was a study in misery as he practically howled out his denial of wrongdoing.

"I know, sweetie. I know why it happened but I can't tell you until we're alone."

Seamus looked confused, "But why?"

"Because it's a secret, dear." Lavender hated the idea of her son having to keep secrets, but no matter how far away from the wizarding world she got, she still refused to jeopardize them. Her friends, even if she hadn't seen them in years, deserved more from her. She sighed. Besides, it looked like Seamus might get a letter from Hogwarts some day.

They had walked for about ten minutes before they got to a deserted playground. It was cold out, but clear and the sun was shining, so there was some warmth. She led Seamus over to one of the park benches and they both sat down.

"This is going to sound strange, Seamus, but everything I'm about to tell you is true. I want you to hold your questions until I'm done, though, alright?"

He nodded, clearly scared of whatever his mother was about to tell him.

"Alright, you know those movies and books about Merlin the sorcerer?" Seamus nodded. "Well, he really did live a long time ago. And he really was a wizard. He wasn't the only one. There are lots of witches and wizards in the world. Most of them are very good people, not like the stories say they are now."

"But, mum-"

Lavender shook her head, "Questions after, remember?" Seamus nodded and held her hand tighter.

"Some people are born able to do magic. Most people aren't. When they're younger, the witch or wizard's magic shows itself in strange ways, like wanting to climb a tree so high and then suddenly being there." Seamus' eyes grew wide as Lavender took a deep breath. "When I was little, my magic tended to make things jump and dance."

"Mummy?"

Lavender nodded at the question in Seamus' voice. "Yes, I am a witch. You, my dear boy, are going to be a wizard. It's not a bad thing," she continued hurriedly as Seamus' eyes filled with fright. "You will be able to do some wonderful things when you're older. There's a special school that I went to, well, we'll figure out how to afford it, I promise."

Lavender put her arm around Seamus' shoulders. "Oh, I'm just messing this all up. I didn't think I'd have to talk to you about it, sweetie."

"Mummy, is that why I hurt at the Full Moon?" Seamus asked the question she had truly been dreading.

She sighed. "In a way, but not really. You feel that way because of something that happened to me when I was just seventeen. I told you most witches and wizards are good people, not evil." Seamus nodded. "Well, there are some bad witches and wizards, too. There used to be one who was as evil as anyone I can ever think of. He had a bunch of people who believed like he did and were willing to do anything to hurt the good witches and wizards and the people who have no magic at all.

"One of my friends from school beat him when we were seventeen. There was a great big battle, though and I was injured by one of the bad man's followers. This man who hurt me was a werewolf."

"A werewolf? But they're not real, mummy!"

Lavender tucked his head on her shoulder. "Yes, they are, sweetie. They're just not like the movies make them seem." She shook her head, "In fact, most of _them_ are good people, too. They're just people that had the really bad luck to run into a werewolf and get bitten in the first place. There's a potion, you see, a medicine, that can make their time at the Full Moon much easier.

"I don't change into a wolf at the Full Moon because Greyback, that was his name, Fenrir Greyback, bit me at the wrong time of the month. But I do get terrible pains and very grumpy."

"So do I." Seamus frowned.

"I know. You get that from me. But that medicine I give you every month helps, right?"

"Yes, mummy." Seamus looked up at her. "Will I turn into a wolf, mummy?"

Lavender smiled and shook her head. "No, sweetie. To turn into a wolf, you'd have to be bitten at the Full Moon. I wasn't, so you won't. I'm just sorry you feel anything at all."

"It doesn't hurt as much as it used to, mummy. It's getting better."

Lavender hugged her son. "I'm so glad to hear that."

"So why is it a secret, mummy." she heard his muffled voice ask her.

Lavender nodded to herself and said, "It's a secret because the muggle world-"

"Muggle?"

"People who aren't witches or wizards, sweetie. Anyway, the muggle world just isn't ready to accept witches and wizards. They're afraid of us. Can you imagine what they'd say if they found out you could make water out of thin air, or disappear and reappear somewhere else? They might afraid of you. Well, not all. There are some muggles out there who wouldn't care at all, but there are others who would want to use your abilities to do bad things. We let the muggles sort things out on their own because it would be too easy for them to rely on us to fix things for them."

"Kind of like Marvelman or Superman?"

"Exactly like that." She let Seamus mull things over for a bit while she thought about what she had told him. She wasn't sure how to explain to Seamus that he couldn't tell his father.

Seamus was thinking hard about what his mum had just told him. Witches and wizards belonged in the fairy tale books his mum read to him. They shouldn't be real, just like comic book heroes weren't real. But they are real and he was one of them. And he couldn't tell anyone, even his best friend, Melissa?

"Mum, can I tell M'liss?"

"No, sweetie, you can't tell Melissa. You can't tell anyone at all." Lavender took a deep breath, "Even your father."

Seamus looked sad when Lavender told him he couldn't tell his best friend, but he was absolutely stricken by the idea that he couldn't tell his father. "Why not?"

"Because your father doesn't know about magic. He knows I was attacked by a werewolf. He knows that's why we both have a hard time at the Full Moon. He doesn't know I'm a witch. I don't think he'd react well to you being a wizard."

Seamus' eyes filled with tears. "He won't like me anymore?"

Lavender cringed inside, hating to make Seamus afraid of his father, but not knowing any other way to keep Tommy from doing something he'd later regret. "Not that. I think he'd be afraid of it, sweetie. He doesn't always stay calm when he's afraid."

Seamus realized what she was saying. His father liked to go down to the pub. A lot. When he came home from the pub, he liked to yell. He hadn't ever done more than that, but sometimes when he was so angry, Seamus would hide in his room while his mother calmed his father down.

Seamus nodded his head, the tears in his eyes so close to falling. "You think he'll be mad at me."

"Or me. Maybe both of us." Lavender wiped his tears away and smiled gently, "Better to avoid either possibility, right?"

Seamus nodded again. "Yes, mummy." He hugged her and Lavender hugged him back.

"Now, we'll just keep this a secret between the two of us. I'll show you little tricks to control your temper and try to stop your magic from doing silly things like it did today that will get you into trouble with people who don't understand, alright?"

Seamus nodded, his head still buried in her jacket. Lavender enjoyed the feel of her little boy tight against her and rested her head on the top of his. They stayed like that for a while before Lavender realized he was starting to shiver from sitting on the cold bench for so long. She gave him one more squeeze and asked him, "Why don't we stop at Gershom's for some tea and cocoa on the way home?"

Seamus looked at his mother and grinned, "Can I have marshmallows in my cocoa?"

"Well, of course. What's hot cocoa without marshmallows, silly boy? Maybe I'll even have some cocoa instead of tea. What do you say to that?"

"Great!" Seamus jumped off the bench, the conversation they'd had and everything he'd heard and done today was running around his brain, but the prospect of hot cocoa with his mum at Gershom's made heavy thoughts take a back seat.

_**AN:**__ I'm not sure whether or not Principal Figg is related to Mrs. Figg. It may pop up in Dudley's Tale. Or not, if it has no relevance. I haven't decided yet. Nyah, nyah._

_This is also as far as I've written about Lavender's back story. After this she sort of blends into Dudley's Tale. If anything happens in her life where she needs to have her own say, I'll be writing it up._


End file.
